REFORMATION?

 OCTOBER 24, 2022

Our Devotions this week will focus on the key teachings and encouragement that come to us out the historical period know as the Reformation. I suppose I should tell you that a question prompted my preparing this series of devotionals. The question was REFORMATION? Why should I care? Why should we care? Why should many Christians pause in late October every year to recall, reflect and remember the events and teaching of the Reformation? My prayer is that by weeks end we will be able to answer these questions and be able to acknowledge why this act of remembering is a worthwhile exercise.


Today I want us to reflect on the value and importance of God’s Word. The teaching that came out of the period of the Reformation was captured in this phrase “By Scripture Alone.”

I was reading the other day about the praise that was being heaped on Martin Luther, a key leader during this period, for his work and the outcome of that work which resulted in a significant change in the life of the Church and indeed, Christian History. Luther’s response to the praise really struck me. Luther said, “I did nothing. The WORD did it!” Any achievement toward renewal and change was the result of the response to God’s word. There is perhaps a lesson in that for us in the Contemporary Church that what ought to drive our vision and mission and even structure is the study of God’s Word. Let the word do it. Luther in another place said that “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.” I pray that we all experience God’s Word in this way, we will all be better for it, as will the world around us.

TAKE AWAY

Read the following verses and take note of what “scripture is saying about scripture.” Write down key words or phrases or even questions that may come up for you.

2 Timothy 3:15-17

“… from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, 17so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Hebrews 4:12

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”